This invention relates to an apparatus for printing golf tees and the like.
Golf tees are the pegs on which golf balls are placed to be struck at the beginning of play. A tee has a shaft with a point which is set into the earth, and a usually flaring head with a depression in which the golf ball is placed. Tees are usually made of wood or plastic.
Tees are frequently provided with advertising and similar prints. This is generally done using ink dabber printing, for which an elaborate block must be produced, so that it is only suitable for large series.
However, there is also a need to print tees with the name of a company, the name of the particular golfer or the like, i.e. in a small piece number with frequently changing texts.
The object of the invention is therefore to provide a simply constructed, easily operated, efficient apparatus for printing golf tees.
According to the invention, a rack for forming a row of tees is provided. The lined-up tees are suspended between two rails which form a longitudinal slit. The distance between the rails, or the width of said slit, is greater than the diameter of the shaft but smaller than the diameter of the head of the tee, so that the shaft of the tee hangs downward with the point through the slit or between the rails, while the head of the tee rests on both rails or the side edges of the slit.
The conveying means preferably used is a belt or chain conveyor, i.e. the carrying or traction device of the conveying means is formed by a band or belt or one or more chains.
Entrainers are disposed in pairs on the carrying device at a distance in the longitudinal or conveying direction which is greater than the length of a tee, so that the tees can be deposited on the carrying device at a distance apart in the longitudinal direction.
The entrainers of each pair are at a distance apart which is greater than the diameter of the shaft of the tee but smaller than the diameter of its head.
The turning end of the conveying means is so disposed relative to the rack, and the conveying means has such a circulating direction, that the particular entrainer pair at the turning end is moved from the bottom to the top between the rails of the rack to engage under the head of the foremost tee of the row facing the turning end and place it during its further transport to the printing apparatus on the upper run, i.e. the upper section of the conveying means.
The turning end can be formed by a deflection roller for example in a belt conveyor, or a guide wheel, for example a guide gearwheel, e.g. in a chain conveyor.
The preferred printing apparatus according to the invention is an ink jet printer since it firstly can readily print on round, nonplane surfaces, and secondly can be driven individually and easily with a PC or similar data processing system. That is, the invention permits even very small series to be printed in simple fashion, if desired each tee differently.
The slanted arrangement of the rails of the rack, i.e. when their lower ends face the turning end of the conveying means, permits the rails of the rack to be formed as a chute.
At the end of the rails of the rack facing the turning end of the conveying means, a stop is provided for the foremost tee. Said stop can be formed e.g. by bending up the ends of the rails or the like. It is only essential that the stop not prevent the foremost tee of the rack from being received by the particular entrainer pair of the conveying means.
For each tee to be positioned precisely under the printing apparatus, the conveying means is preferably formed by a belt or at least one chain on which links are fastened from which the entrainers protrude, on the one hand, and which each have a depression, on the other hand, so that they form a channel extending in the longitudinal conveying direction on the upper run of the conveying means. The depressions can be of V shape in cross section. Additionally, they can also be formed with different heights in the longitudinal direction. This causes the tees to be disposed in the middle or in a defined position in the longitudinal direction as well as horizontally in the optimal printing plane, based on the width of the traction device.
Furthermore, for exact positioning of the tees under the printing apparatus a presser is provided between the turning end and the printing apparatus for lightly pressing the tees so that tees whose heads are not lying against the entrainer pair are pulled with their heads toward the entrainer pair. After that a sensor is mounted for reporting the presence of a tee and the start position for printing to the printing unit.
To permit automatic operation of the apparatus, a tee singling device is preferably provided from which the tees are supplied to the rack. The singling device may be formed as a bowl or similar vessel with a coil on the inside wall which rises upward from the bottom. The vessel is set in rotary vibrations about the center axis of the coil by a vibrating device such that the tees travel upward jerkily on the coil. The tees are thereby aligned in the longitudinal direction, i.e. tees not disposed in the longitudinal direction of the coil are either not received by the coil or drop off it again to the vessel bottom. Furthermore, a suitable installation (e.g. a taper of the coil) ensures that only one tee after the other is transported.
The vibrating device can have for example one or more electromagnets which attract the bowl contrary to the force of a spring, whereby when the electromagnet or electromagnets are turned off the springs abruptly turn the bowl a piece so that the tees are moved upward on the coil according to the law of inertia.
At the upper end of the coil two rails are preferably fastened side by side to form a vibrating conveyor that moves the tees to the rack. The rails of the supply device are preferably disposed on a slant in order to form a chute for the tees to the rack. Said rails simultaneously cause the tees to be all suspended in identical alignment with their heads upward, no matter in which direction they arrive at the end of the coil.
A sensor is preferably provided on the rack for switching off or stopping the singling device at a predetermined number of tees in the rack, and switching it on again when there is less than a predetermined number of tees. The rack is mechanically unconnected with the singler so that no vibration of the vibrating conveyor is transmitted to the rack and the conveying device.
The inventive apparatus is conceived primarily for golf tees. However, it can be used equally well for printing other nail-like, cylindrical, conic or similar elongate objects, e.g. prismatic elongate objects such as pencils. If no suitably formed head of the tee or object to be printed is available, another inventive embodiment is provided such that the alignment is effected by suitable installations in the vibrating conveyor. The objects thus already aligned can then be supplied on a chute in the form of a channel likewise to the conveyer belt, in this case on the upper run area.